SL Shopping Made Simple

House by Onsu.

With all the sales events, weekend specials and talented designers in Second Life, it's easy to go crazy and loose with the $Ls. 

Believe me, I know.

I recently moved to a lovely Second Norway parcel and I tried using one of the thirty or so houses I already had in my inventory. None of them were "right," or I'm just displaying spoiled princess tendencies. I'm not sure which.

I found a new house that I love. I struggled to force myself to only use furniture and décor I already had and I managed to stick to it, mostly. I did have to do some light hunting and gathering, making sure everything was just right. 

I am not a fan of trying to find virtual household items. I'm not a decorator by any stretch of the imagination. I struggle to achieve a specific look without using my whole prim allowance on one room or going broke. 

But I have a process. 

The Marketplace is a struggle for me. There's just so much to wade through and sometimes it's hard to figure out how something will be categorized. I still use it, but I have more success scrolling through the Second Life Home, Garden and More group on Flickr. I can usually find ideas for different looks. I try to recreate what I find using my available inventory when I can. When I try and fail, there are usually links to the specific décor on the MP or the event where it's being featured.

Speaking of events, there's an easy way to find what you're looking for fast. I use Seraphim's website to preview what's available. When I see something I absolutely HAVE to have, I make note of the actual name of the item, teleport to the event then use "area search" to locate it. In Firestorm, you can find area search by clicking on the World tab. (Make sure you've clicked "Disable Camera Restraints" in the Advanced tab.) After you locate that awesome new thing, click "zoom" to find it with your camera, right click, buy and there you go! No endless flying around a packed event, waiting for stuff to rezz or getting yelled at for bumping in to people. An added bonus, you're not tempted by all the other yummy new creations. 

These tips won't do anything to help your prim allowance and they won't make it any easier to hold on to your cash, but I hope you found them useful regardless.

Do you have special tricks for shopping in Second Life? Let me know in the comments!

Don't forget to keep living your best second life. We'll chat again soon.

Disclaimer: Links to other sites in this post are not sponsored. I did not receive any compensation for their placement, they were used only as a convenience for the reader.

Finding Bargains at Gacha Resellers

Click to enlarge.

 After my return, it took me a while to figure out what, exactly, Gachas were. Once I found out, I made a conscious effort to avoid the little machines like the plague. I don't have anything against them as a rule, but I know me and my addictive personality. I knew I'd get hooked and end up begging for $L at the infohubs for hair money.

I once became so obsessed over a piece of land that I got involved in an auction bidding war and ended up buying more $L in the process which almost resulted in my paying about 5 times what it was worth.

Luckily I was out bid.

I do, however, love shopping at the many Gacha reseller areas. They're like ginormous flea markets of STUFF. Most stores are set up with little boxes neatly aligned with rare and common items clearly marked. Great for finding that rare piece to complete your collection. I'm not interested in collections though. I want to wander around and look at everything in-world. Shops like the one pictured above, with a smorgasbord of items crammed together remind me of the 1st life thrift stores that I love.

Click to enlarge.

 I try to avoid stores that specialize in pets. I don't need more, but I'm a sucker for anything cute and cuddly, like this little dinosaur. My home will be full of chubby pandas and shark plushies if I'm not careful.

There were a few things I had in mind before I set out on my shopping trip. I need something for my back deck, but I'm not sure what. Maybe an outdoor dining set or possibly a yoga mat. Or fairies and gnomes. I DON'T KNOW.

That's what's great about shopping the resellers. They're full of ideas, different styles and designers. Marketplace is great if you know exactly what you're looking for, but if you're like me and not sure, it can be frustrating.

I looked on the Marketplace recently for a small, contemporary fireplace to fit my latest house, but without much luck. So when I wandered in to the back room of a Gacha shop and found this, I was super excited.

Click to enlarge.

 It fits the space and style of my new home perfectly.

If you set out on an epic Gacha shopping trip, try the smaller places first. With less traffic, their prices tend to be a little lower and they stock the same items you'll find at the massive sim-wide malls.

Anywho, that's what I've been up to this week.

We'll talk again soon!

There Goes The Neighborhood

Yes it's another house. Don't judge me.

My neighbors are disappearing. The lot to the south is still for sale, but with new owners. It's still pretty cheap, the buyer only raised the price by L$1000. If they don't sell it fast, they're going to spend more in fees than they'll make. It'll be a deal for someone.

I thought about buying it, it's much larger than what I have, but I'm content with my little plot (and my monthly bill) for now. I'm holding out for the 1024m between me and protected water. I'm hoping it gets abandoned eventually. 

Plus, I've finally sorted out my wandering horse falling in the water. It was a little disturbing to log on and find him chilling on the ocean floor.

The one friendly neighbor I had abandoned her land for a Linden houseboat. I'm happy for her, but I  miss seeing her over there.

There were brief border wars between folks on adjacent parcels. One eventually packed up and left, after the angry returning of property invading prims and ugly border markers, then put their parcel up for rent. It went fast, but the new tenant was even worse. She invaded on everyone's lines, even partially blocking protected waterways.

It's fun sitting back on my deck and watching uglier and uglier markers, signs and obnoxious builds going up between angry neighbors, until someone gets a cob up their ass, packs up and leaves.

As I've said before, I'm easily entertained. It's what I love about living on the mainland.

The property behind me is abandoned too. I can probably lower my cliffs for now, I can't remove them or Coal will try going for a swim. He thinks he's a Kelpie, apparently. I was amazed the first time I saw him actually swimming. Who knew? Second Life horses have evolved by leaps and bounds since the early days.

So for now, I'm enjoying the peace and solitude with the sound of waves rolling up on the shore, reading a bit and relaxing.

My second life, is a good life.

Feeling Homey... and Tired

A bitch is tired. Can you tell?

I may not move from this spot for a while. Shopping is exhausting, for me anyways. Not fun shopping, but for plants, furniture and crap. I *think* my beach house is finally done, for the most part. I snuck in a bit of hair too, just to keep things interesting.

To celebrate, I swung by Cay's at Woodland Lake for some Southern rock and to try out my new dance moves. I met some folks, made a few friends. It was nice to cut loose a little after moving furniture all day.

I managed to lose a chair. I was afraid I'd sent it to a neighbor's parcel, but it hasn't been returned, so I must have deleted it. Thank goodness for Copy.

It's not the first time I've lost furniture. It probably won't be the last.

It's coming together nicely and definitely starting to feel homey.

I hope ya'll are making the best of your Second life. See you soon!